Spectral Guardian
by MixnSpice
Summary: Once in a lone, stormy night, a human child meets his guardian for the first time. While not the ideal kind of what a guardian is like, his new ghostly friend could be exactly who he needs.


**A/N: Before we start off, I'd like to give a shot out for my best friend for coming up with this idea during one of our fandoms rant.**

 **Undertale is the property of toby fox, and I claim no profit from this. This story was inspired by the UnderBed AU, and I take no credit from it. In other words, please don't sue me.**

* * *

A lone human child huddled himself within his blanket as the storm outside grew louder. The child, Frisk, whimpered as the roars of thunder rang throughout their tiny ears. Mom and Dad promised that they would be home by now. But the child knew better than to raise his hopes up; even at their age, he knew that the heavy weather could make it hard for the two adults to come home as promised. Though at best his parents would come home really late, Frisk couldn't help but imagine the worst possibilities to happen.

What if Mom and Dad couldn't make it tonight? If that happened, then the child would be forced to spend the night alone, without Dad's warm embrace or Mom's comforting words.

Frisk didn't want that to happen.

He heard a grumble, but quickly dismissed it as a sign of the storm momentarily calming down. As the child slowly felt sleepy, he grabbed onto a white pillow that had fallen out of his bed in their tossing and turning earlier. But when he managed to get a hold of it, he noticed that the pillow felt softer than it should be.

Too tired to care about that particular detail, Frisk squinted his eyes as he squeezed his pillow in comfort. That's strange; he doesn't remember his pillow being as big as them, nor having two circles and a line that makes it look like a face on it.

"zzzzzzzzz...are they asleep yet..?"

Then again, pillows don't talk either.

Rearing back in surprise, Frisk sat up as he let go of their supposed 'pillow'. It was a white being, roughly the same size as the child is. It floated away from the child's bed and vanished, hiding itself from him. The child went towards to the very front of his bed, and in looking for the being, he heard it whisper.

"oh no, I messed up...now the human's scared of me...ohhh.."

Well, whatever it was, they didn't seem unfriendly and if anything, they seem to be really shy. Holding back a giggle, Frisk called out to the strange visitor, reassuring them that he wasn't scared at all and would like to meet them.

"r..really?" They said as they reappeared, appearing unsure of themselves.

Now that the child got a better look at it, he saw an almost cartoon-like eyes and mouth on their visitor. Frisk wondered why did they think that he'll be scared of them? His new visitor doesn't look that bad, and they kind of remind him of Casper.

True to his words, he wasn't scared of them at all, and flashing them a smile, introduced himself.

"Frisk...?...that's a nice name.." They said. "everyone calls me Napstablook..."

With the tension gone, Frisk almost put their hand out for Napstablook to shake, only to sheepishly apologize and pull it back upon realizing that they don't have hands or any limbs of the sort.

"it's okay..." Napstablook replied.

Napstablook took a deep breath, and addressing the child directly, said, "..I know that I don't look like much...but I'm your new guardian monster...I think..."

Guardian monster? Frisk asked what did that mean.

"well, I'm someone who'll protect you...if that's okay with you...but, I don't think I'll be a good one..." They replied.

The child tilted his head. He then asked them what did they mean by that? Surely, they couldn't be a bad guardian, right? They seemed nice enough.

"well, I don't think I can scare anyone who hurts you...I'm too timid for that..." Napstablook said. "...I don't think anyone would want me as their guardian monster..."

Tears began to form at their eyes. "...I knew that this was a bad idea, Metta...I'm just not cut to be a guardian...and now I'm crying in front of human I'm supposed to watch over..."

Frisk didn't want their new friend to feel sad about themselves, so he began to wipe Napstablook's tears with his finger. He then told them that even if others wouldn't want them, then he would be happy to have Napstablook as a guardian.

"a..are you sure?" They asked. "..you're not just trying to spare my feelings...right?"

When Frisk confirmed it, their tears began to fade as they managed a small smile. "..thanks...it's funny that you're the one cheering your guardian up...instead of the other way around..."

A loud thunderstorm roared outside, causing Frisk to whimper and hide himself in the blankets.

"Frisk...what's wrong?" Napstablook asked. "...are you scared of thunderstorms?"

Peeking their head outside of his blanket, Frisk shook his head no as he told his new guardian his trouble. His parents might not come home today, and he's scared that he'll be alone tonight. He couldn't stop himself from sobbing as he feared for the worst.

"it'll be okay...your mom and dad will make it.." Napstablook said, attempting to cheer the child up. "...besides, you won't be alone because I'm here...okay?"

Frisk sniffled a bit before letting out a small smile, and said thanks to their guardian. Their ghostly guardian couldn't help but light up at their human's kindness.

"now Frisk, please don't cry anymore...or I'll start crying too.." The child giggled at that response, before tears began to pour from the eyes of Napstablook. At first, Frisk thought that they were going to cry, but the child grew confused when the formed tears began to float up to the ghost's head.

The tears then formed a hat on Napstablook's head. "...I call it...Dapperblook...do you like it?"

Frisk let out several giggles as he nodded, wiping his tears off with his sleeves. He could tell that Napstablook is trying to cheer him up, and it's surely working.

Napstablook, or rather, Dapperblook as he was at the moment, let out a small laugh as he felt a chipper response from Frisk.

Maybe being a guardian wouldn't be so bad, after all.

* * *

It was around 9:55 PM by the time Frisk's parents managed to come home. The child, though tired, happily opened his eyes as his mom and dad came rushing to his room.

"Oh Frisk, we're so sorry for making you wait for so long." His dad said as he hugged his child while his wife began to say similar apologies.

Frisk told them that he's okay. Besides, Napstablook helped cheering him up while waiting for them.

"Napstablook? Who's that?" Mom asked. Dad began to laugh at his son's antics.

"I think our little boy made an imaginary friend while we were gone." He said as he ruffled his boy's hair.

Frisk puffed his cheeks and pouted; Napstablook isn't imaginary!

"Yeah, I'm sure they aren't." Mom said as she played along.

Below their bed, Napstablook heard the happy family continue on with their conversation. The ghost felt a corner of his mouth curve upwards. This was their duty now; as Frisk's guardian monster, they won't let him down.

After all, this was only the beginning of their new lives together.


End file.
